Dr. Turman has dedicated his career as an academic to building community-based participatory programs that address maternal and child health and education issues in communities struggling with poverty and its array of consequences. In all that he does, Dr. Turman brings the mind of a researcher and a heart of a person who has been touched by the reality of families struggling to survive. Based in a social-ecological approach to health and education promotion, Dr. Turman realizes that improving health and education outcomes requires parallel interventions that address individual, family, community and societal needs.

Dr. Turman realizes that developing solutions starts with learning from the folks living with the issues. Once residents identify their priority needs, community assets and barriers, Dr. Turman gets to work facilitating an innovative, interdisciplinary team that works equitably with community members to facilitate implementable solution strategies.

Dr. Turman is respected for the innovative outcomes that emerged from his building and empowering of teams that addressed the needs of women, children and their neighborhoods in both urban and rural settings in the United States and Morocco. He is honored to serve as the USA FAE Ambassador and is excited to partner with the leadership of the FAE and the rural citizens of Tanzania to implement economically feasible, sustainable, community-based strategies that break the cycle of poverty and grow a spirit of hope.